Truck driver accused in 14-year-old’s death to face retrial in Vinh Long on Sept. 17

The trial of Nguyễn Văn Bảo Trung, the truck driver accused of causing the death of a 14-year-old girl in Vĩnh Long, is scheduled to take place again on Sept. 17. The hearing will be public at the headquarters of Area People’s Court 4 in Trung Thành Commune.

Trung, 34, from Tam Ngãi Commune, faces charges of violating regulations on road traffic participation. Judge Phạm Thị Lanh will preside, while court-appointed lawyer Trần Chính Thống will represent the defendant. Eight lawyers, including attorneys from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, will protect the legal rights and interests of the victim’s family.

The court opened the first-instance trial on Aug. 28 but postponed it after the legal representative of the girl’s family failed to appear. Several lawyers representing the victim’s side were also absent without explanation, requested a postponement, or declined to participate. Prosecutors asked the court to delay the hearing to safeguard the legal rights and interests of all parties.

The indictment says the crash occurred at about 9:45 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2024, on Provincial Road 901. Trung allegedly moved into the left lane to overtake another truck traveling near the right edge of the road. Two schoolgirls on electric bicycles were approaching from the opposite direction. T.N.X.N., 14, braked and stopped, but Bảo Trân, who was riding behind her with L.M.N., could not react in time. She hit N.’s bicycle and fell to the left, where the truck’s front-left wheel ran over her. She died after being taken for emergency treatment.

On April 28, 2025, Bảo Trân’s father, Nguyễn Vĩnh Phúc, shot and seriously wounded Trung with a homemade gun before killing himself. Investigators opened a murder case but later suspended it because the person who carried out the act had died. Police later opened the traffic case and charged Trung in June 2025. The article also says the Supreme People’s Procuracy investigation agency completed an inquiry into former police and procuracy officials allegedly failing to prosecute a guilty person in a related Trà Ôn district case.